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December 17, 2008
When is comedy not funny?
Let me begin by saying I've been a fan of Saturday Night Live since it's debut in 1975. I enjoy the satire and the parodies and some years are more funny than others. So I'm in a quandary with the skit parodying the Governor of NY, David Paterson.
I'm all for people with disabilities being included in society and poking fun at themselves. There's nobody like me who can laugh at some of the more dumb things I've done over the years, some which pertain to my disability, most however did not. Just human foibles.
However, in satirizing Governor Paterson, rather than being inclusive SNL, seemed to be showing their ignorance and immaturity about people with low vision or who are totally blind. Kind of like the commercials the Canadian National Institute has run over the past few years, with the young person waving his hands in front of the blind man's face thinking he couldn't see. Then the blind man imitating him behind his back demonstrating that he knew exactly what was happening.
SNL, in their little sketch perpetuated the myth that people who are blind or who have low vision are incompetent to do work, any kind of work including be governor of a state like NY. If they had satirized Governor Paterson's race, he's black, all hell would be breaking loose in the media, but because he is a person with a disability, people like the View's Joy Behar are wondering what all the fuss is about.
It may have been an immature act of ignorance on Seth Myers and the SNL writing team's part. Perhaps they are not acquainted with any visually impaired people or people who are blind. Being legally blind like Governor Paterson and myself, we have some sight. Granted it's not much, but we do the best we can with what little sight we have.
Legally blind people have university degrees and are competent in many areas. Some of us have taught, been journalists, lawyers, scientists, politicians. Not all legally blind people are totally blind. In fact it's only a very small percentage of blind people who are totally blind, approximately 2-3 percent of the "blind" population. The vast majority have some sight and would be classed as low vision. But we all should be treated with the equal dignity Mr. Myers and his writing staff and comedians would be expected to be treated with.
We legally blind people have incredible adaptive technology available to us, there are screen readers like Jaws and Zoom Text. There's even braille keyboards. Oh and by the way not all blind people read braille. I actually wasn't allowed to learn braille because I had too much vision, even when I went to the faculty of education and asked the administration of William H. Macdonald school to learn braille I was refused entry. I had too much sight why did I want to learn braille.
So not only are people with low vision stigmatized by the general populace, who don't understand blindness and apparently dignity but even within the "blind" community there are schisms and factions. I've been told I try to "pass" as a normal person because I don't know braille, well I am a normal person. I just happen to have had low vision from birth and parents who encouraged and empowered me to be everything I could be to the best of my abilities and that included going to public school like everyone else and high school and university.
So that's why I'm upset about SNL's sketch this past weekend. I think I'm unhappy that SNL took the easy way out and treated Governor Paterson with less dignity, not so much, because he's done silly things or is a klutz but because he's visually impaired and they think it's ok to make fun of people with disabilities. That we are a perpetual joke. Or something to be pitted as was evident in the movie Blindness.
Here is some of what is in the papers and what the discussion on the Huffington Post has to say:
SNL blasted for mocking NY Gov's blindness
Advocates Call for 'SNL' Apology Over Paterson Skit
Governor Paterson SNL Skit Criticized By Governor, Advocates Of The Blind
Dr. Cortes, President and CEO Lighthouse International said,
"Governor Paterson, like all elected officials, should be judged by his actions. To use his disability as the focal point of comedy is in very poor taste. We applaud the courage it takes every day for people who are blind and visually impaired to live productively and effectively. Saturday Night Live has taken a cheap shot at that courage.
When Governor Paterson assumed office, Lighthouse International, along with many advocates for people who are visually impaired, shared a sense of pride that progress had been made in dispelling stereotypes. SNL has set that progress back. They should issue an on-air apology."
Let me end with some comments by Governor Paterson himself.
The Governor said, "There is only one way that people could have an unemployment rate that's six times the national average — it's attitude." "And I'm afraid that the kind of third-grade depiction of individuals and the way they look and the way they move add to that negative environment."
"I run the place that I work in so I don't have to worry about being discriminated against, I think," he said. "But the point is that a lot of people who don't get promotions and don't get opportunities and don't even get work are disabled in our society."
Add your comments to this posting
Posted by Liz Seger at December 17, 2008 02:38 PM
Comments
Liz/Jim,
Please amend the posting provided last evening as the math was incorrect. I noted I am one of the 2-3% that is "totally blind". In doing the calculation, my math program placed a floating placemarker in the final number which should be 400,000-600,000 not 4-6 million. I only caught the shortcoming just prior to sending this communication when several spreadsheet calculations were identified as having an extra "0". I immediately went back and checked math on previous communications sent the past few days.
Sorry for the error. Have A Festive Holiday Season!
Posted by: James J. Elekes, M.Ed, MPA, CPM at December 18, 2008 07:14 AM
Thank you for the enlightening commentary about SNL's skit on Governor Patterson. At my age, I don't stay up for SNL any more though I confess I did to see Tina Fey's fabulous performance during the campaign. I wholeheartedly agree with Tara Cortes's comments that we were all proud to see Governor Patterson take the oath of office - as a realization of our dreams to see a visually impaired persons break through one more barrier.
Posted by: Rachel Ethier Rosenbaum at December 18, 2008 08:29 AM
Thanks, James, the 2-3 per cent figure I quoted is from the Canadian National Institute of the Blind so are not US stats.
Sorry if I wasn't clear about that.
Oh and for all of you have the merriest holiday season and new year's. I'm pretty sure there won't be an eNN for December 24th or Dec. 31, back the first week of January.
Posted by: Liz S at December 18, 2008 09:24 AM
It was a Saturday Night Live skit, not ABC News. They make fun of everyone on SNL. It's meant to be a satirical program. If they (SNL writes) ignored Gov. Patterson's blindness, essentially they would be saying he deserves special treatment since they rag on everyone without prejudice. I thought the idea was to include blind people in the mainstream. If they said nothing about his blindness, then they would be putting Gov. Patterson in a special category. Aren't you tired of being put in a "special" category?
As for treating him with "less dignity", this is SNL! They don't treat anyone with dignity. That's not their job. If they treated everyone with dignity, no one would watch because it wouldn't be a funny show. They make fun of people. If you want dignity, watch Meet the Press. But I guarantee you it won't be as funny as SNL.
Posted by: Jennifer at December 18, 2008 01:51 PM
I agree with Jennifer. SNL is a form of entertainment, and a darn good show if you ask me. I honestly didn't want to comment on this entry but I couldn't resist. Some people just need to lighten up, and that includes people with a visual impairment. I have been blind all my life, and believe me I've made my share of blunders. But do I get hung up on them so that they become the center of my attention? No I don't, and I do have a sense of humor that has entertained a lot of people and will no doubt continue to do so. I have been known to make jokes about my blindness or blindness in general, and friends find these jokes very amusing. I believe I read that Governor Paterson himself didn't take a view one way or the other about the SNL skit, and he just moved on. That's exactly how I would've handled it. I didn't see the skit because my TV doesn't work, but I did get to watch it on Youtube. If we didn't have a sense of humor about our special needs, I think people would view us as rather uninformed and boring human beings. These are not just my thoughts, but I've spoken to others both visually-impaired and sighted. Why don't the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind--both of whom have taken a stand against the satirical views on blindness--just get a life and stop being so hurt by what others find to be nothing more than great entertainment? Happy New Year everyone, and let's make 2009 a year when we can all recognize entertainment when we see it or hear about it. Jake
Posted by: Jake at December 28, 2008 09:56 PM